Physical Dangers of Sex Work
Ashanti Carmon
Ashanti Carmon, a trans sex worker, was shot and killed on Eastern Avenue in Washington, D.C. on March 30, 2019.
Zoe Spears
Zoe Spears, a trans sex worker, was shot and killed just a few blocks from where Ashanti Carmon was killed three months earlier.
Ashanti Carmon was twenty-seven years old when she was shot and killed on Eastern Avenue in the Washington, D.C. area on March 30, 2020. [1] Three months later, Zoe Spears, who was twenty-three, was killed a few blocks away from Eastern Avenue. Both women were black trans women, and both were sex workers who worked on and around Eastern Avenue. [2] Ashanti was only sixteen when she first started working the streets. [3] Their deaths were not the first murders of trans people to take place that year, and they were not the last either. Sadly, hundreds of trans people worldwide are murdered or physically harmed each year by strangers, friends, police, and medical professionals. [4] 62% of these trans people are sex workers. [5]
Trans sex workers face the risk of violence of many forms. They face heightened risks of sexual assault, head injuries, and even murder, like in the cases of Ashanti Carmon and Zoe Spears. Many trans sex workers have a history of violence against them, either from family members, significant others, or clients. [6] Most trans individuals who experience head injuries often had them occur in childhood. Trans sex workers are also at a higher risk of sexual assault due to their vulnerability to strangers. They face violence or mistreatment in the workplace, from partners or family members, in public spaces, and military or police personnel. [7]
Trans sex workers also face mistreatment from authorities such as police and medical professionals. Sex work is still illegal in all states, and trans women are often targeted by police officers more than other sex workers. This is partially due to racial profiling, as most trans sex workers are people of color, but they are usually more noticeable due to their open trans identities. [8] Police often use force to bribe or extort trans sex workers, especially in areas where trans women are more vulnerable. Due to current legislation, if a trans woman were to be arrested, she would be sent to a men’s prison. [9] This is extremely dangerous for trans women, as they are often susceptible to sexual assault, abuse, and neglect by police officials. Due to the criminalization of sex work, if a trans woman were to be assaulted while working, she probably would not go to the police for fear of being ridiculed, ignored, or even arrested for reporting the incident. [10] Often, trans sex workers face mistreatment from medical professionals as well. When trans women go to a hospital or clinic to be treated for an injury caused by violence, medical professionals either turn them away or report them to police. [11] Trans women are at a higher risk of contracting HIV, and they are often barred from getting necessary medical treatment due to the stigma surrounding trans people. [12]
References:
[1] Steadman, Otillia. “Two Trans Women Were Killed In The Same Maryland Neighborhood.” BuzzFeed News, June 16, 2019. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/otilliasteadman/trans-women-killed-fairmount-heights.
[2] Steadman, Otillia. “Two Trans Women Were Killed In The Same Maryland Neighborhood.” BuzzFeed News, June 16, 2019. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/otilliasteadman/trans-women-killed-fairmount-heights.
[3] Schmidt, Samantha. “As a Homeless Transgender Woman, She Had Turned to Sex Work to Survive. Then She Was Killed.” Washington Post, April 6, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/as-a-homeless-transgender-woman-she-turned-to-sex-work-to-survive-then-she-was-killed/2019/04/06/be157636-57e7-11e9-8ef3-fbd41a2ce4d5_story.html.
[4] Fedorko, Boglarka, and Lukas Berredo. Rep. The Vicious Cycle of Violence: Trans and Gender-Diverse People, Migration, and Sex Work16. Vol. 16. Transgender Europe, 2017.
[5] Fedorko, Boglarka, and Lukas Berredo. Rep. The Vicious Cycle of Violence: Trans and Gender-Diverse People, Migration, and Sex Work16. Vol. 16. Transgender Europe, 2017.
[6] Baumann, Rebekah M., Sarah Hamilton-Wright, Lee Riley Dana, Karen Brown, Cindy Hunt, Alicja Michalak, and Flora I. Matheson. "Experiences of Violence and Head Injury among Women and Transgender Women Sex Workers." Sexuality Research & Social Policy 16, no. 3 (09, 2019): 278-288. doi:http://dx.doi.org.mutex.gmu.edu/10.1007/s13178-018-0334-0.
[7] Baer, James, and Alison Ellis, eds. Rep. Sex Worker Implementation Tool (SWIT). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2013.
[8] Schmidt, Samantha, and Marissa J. Lang. “Transgender Sex Workers Feel under Attack. These Women Are Working to Protect Their Own.” The Washington Post, September 16, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/transgender-sex-workers-feel-under-attack-these-women-are-working-to-protect-their-own/2019/09/16/2cfa1856-d58b-11e9-86ac-0f250cc91758_story.html.
[9] Burns, Katelyn. “Why Police Often Single out Trans People for Violence.” Vox, June 23, 2020. https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/6/23/21295432/police-black-trans-people-violence
[10] Sanfoka, Jasmine. “From Margin to Center: Sex Work Decriminalization Is a Racial Justice Issue,” December 12, 2016. https://www.amnestyusa.org/from-margin-to-center-sex-work-decriminalization-is-a-racial-justice-issue/.
[11] The Needs and Rights of Trans Sex Workers. 9th ed. Edinburgh, UK: Global Network of Sex Work Projects, n.d.
[12] Baer, James, and Alison Ellis, eds. Rep. Sex Worker Implementation Tool (SWIT). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2013.